Stereotype High

September has arrived and it's time to hit the books - but with a twist! This month, we're showcasing a wonderful assortment of plays, all set within the hallowed halls of education. It's time to build your September reading list! So grab a cup of tea, find your favourite reading spot, and cozy up with these fantastic perusal plays. Celebrate these plays on the stage or in the classroom!

*Welcome to our Featured Play Spotlight. * High school is full of stereotypes – or is it? Told in a series of interlaced vignettes, Stereotype High by Jeffrey Harr examines these “stereotypical” teens and how they fight tooth and nail to reinvent themselves. The geek. The freak. The stoner. The dumb jock. The mean girl. The thespian. The slut. The lonely girl. High school is full of stereotypes – or is it? Told in a series of interlaced vignettes, these “stereotypical” teens fight tooth and nail to reinvent themselves. There’s nothing more powerful than the teen who stands alone, proud of who they are. This play contains real situations, real feelings, and real thoughts about all the mature topics. Yes, that means sex, drugs and retainers. Why did we publish this play? This play will not be for everyone. It shows that teenagers are not sunshine and rainbows. They have real feelings, go through real situations, and have real thoughts on mature subjects, which is exactly why you should pick it up and you should do it. Stereotype High shows what happens when teenagers try to break out of the box they’ve been placed in. And we’re not talking a cry fest, angst fest, “why does no one love” pity party. We’re talking three-dimensional characters who make decisions, make mistakes, and try to change. I think it’s a lovely, lovely play. We’re so proud to include it in our catalogue. If you want an intro to this larger work, we publish some of the vignettes as smaller pieces – specifically check out You’re Cosplaying My Song and Master of Puppets. Let’s hear from the author!1. Why did you write this play? I wanted to put a bunch of different kinds of kids together–kids who had no business relating to one another–and let them work it out. Let them work to find a way to relate to one another on a level that goes beyond the stereotypes. As a teacher of 27 years, I have a deep respect for kids–every kind of kid–and this play allowed me to showcase a variety of them in funny, tender, painfully honest moments. 2. Describe the theme in one or two sentences. Chimamanda Adichie once said that the problem with stereotypes isn’t that they’re not true, it’s that they’re incomplete. Kids are so much more than the labels we pin on them. 3. What’s the most important visual for you in this play? The most important visual in the play is at the beginning, seeing the eight main characters, each a different stereotype, stretched across the stage, their costumes defining them in their roles as they recite their mantra–that the great teenage high school social scene gods grant them the serenity to accept their stereotypes–and then, again, at the end of the play, only, this time, they’re in pairs, changed, enlightened, with a new mantra: they’re going to be who they want to be and if people don’t like it, they’ll have to get over it. 4. If you could give one piece of advice for those producing the play, what would it be? Keep it simple–the set pieces, the scene transitions, the flow of the show. Let the characters tell the story and keep it moving. 5. Why is this play great for student performers? For one thing, it’s so much fun. A blind date gone wrong, an audition from hell, a cosplay battle between Obi Wan and an elf queen, an awkward encounter in a gynecologist’s office? You can’t ask for better scenes. And there are monologues – juicy monologues that actors can sink their teeth into, one for each main character. Lastly, these characters have depth–they give student performers the chance to play a realistic, relatable teen with real-life issues. They’re a wonderful challenge for young actors.

Time for a Tfolk Top Ten Plays About…Teen Life! These are not your typical teen-angst-woe-is-me stuff. Three dimensional characters. Relevant stories. Each one offers a unique theatrical take. Read one, read them all! Click the link and you’ll be taken to the webpage for each play. There you’ll get the details and read sample pages. All the best with your search! Sixteen In 10 Minutes Or Less The lives of seven teenagers become intertwined in this humorous and oftentimes bittersweet collection of ten minute plays. Puzzle Pieces This play explores teen issues through a series of monologues. The characters speak frankly about their fears, their futures, and how to embrace the day to day. Stereotype High High school is full of stereotypes – or is it? Told in a series of interlaced vignettes, these “stereotypical” teens fight tooth and nail to reinvent themselves. A Deep Poetic Journey Into Something Jane wants to break out of her box. The problem is she has no idea where to start. Will Jane choose to hide inside or change her life? Stressed Stress is driving this quartet crazy – so much so they can’t stop talking about it. This play is a symphony of sound and character. Pressure Alex is a refugee. Tera is faced with an unpopular decision. Penny is getting up at five every morning and Kyle can’t live up to expectations. Candid and uncompromising, with no easy answers. A Box of Puppies We can all relate to feeling small in a big world. These characters share their insecurities, their frailties and their coping mechanisms. Just Girls Talking What starts as a meeting to finalize graduation ceremony details ends with one young woman faced with a life-changing decision. A head-on collision of values that leaves the viewer asking: What would I do? Split Teenagers navigate the winding road of divorce in this honest and theatrical look at the day to day reality of growing up in a family that’s been torn apart. Neet Teen Teen life – backwards, forwards and inside-out. In every form from kitchen sink, to absurd, to movement, to audience participation, to song, to adding your own scene.

In an age of seemingly endless assessments of our students’ ability to critically read and analyze literature, there is a dire need for them to experience a variety of texts in a variety of formats in order for educators to better train them to get at the heart of what a writer is doing. Because of this, dramatic works fit perfectly into any curriculum attempting to tie the Common Core standards to what the students, at the end of the day, know and are able to do. Of course, dramatic works are already mentioned in the Common Core as one genre with which our students should be interacting. But educators don’t always see them in the same light as more traditionally taught formats, like novels. It’s true that plays generally offer less student face-time with words than novels. However, they offer much more in the way of student engagement, unlike any other text-based medium. This significantly increases the likelihood of success in teaching them to see the literary techniques and authorial tricks-of-the-trade that the Common Core requires. “It’s one thing to read about something; it’s an entirely different thing to perform it.” The act of reading aloud, hearing the words, and portraying the ideas on the page makes clear what mere words cannot. It’s one thing to read about something; it’s an entirely different thing to perform it. Tone, theme, mood, inference, denotation/connotation, language use, structure, plot—all of this is present in plays and, to be sure, more easily seen by a “reader” because it’s literally seen by the reader. With our school’s work with my play Stereotype High, we hit every single one of these elements during our production. We had on-going discussions about theme, character motivations, word choice, the interrelatedness of the scenes, allusions to other works, teen language, and any number of other text specific issues wherein understanding the work was at the core of the discussion. As much as Stereotype High created multiple opportunities for students to explore all the standards of the Common Core, it’s not something specific to that particular play – it’s impossible to perform the words without interpreting them (and the characters saying them). And this is exactly why plays are a perfect fit with the Common Core. With regard to the general reading of dramatic works in the classroom, the following Common Core standards apply (grade nine standards, although there is little difference between these standards and the ones two grade levels above and below): Reading: Literary TextCCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly, as well as inferences drawn from the text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.2 Determine the theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped or refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.3 Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone). CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.5 Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise. * CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.7 * Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment. * CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.9 * Analyze how an author draws on and transforms source material in a specific work (e.g., how Shakespeare treats a theme or topic from Ovid or the Bible or how a later author draws on a play by Shakespeare). **These two are of particular importance as, since most teachers are already incorporating Shakespeare and Greek drama into their classrooms, these standards completely apply to modern adaptations.* WritingUnlike most classical prose, plays inspire students to write plays. They’re shorter, more accessible, and tap into their authentic language so much more directly than any sort of prose can. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective techniques, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.3.A Engage and orient the reader by setting out a problem, situation, or observation, establishing one or multiple point(s) of view, and introducing a narrator and/or characters; create a smooth progression of experiences or events. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.3.B Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, reflection, and multiple plot lines, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.3.C Use a variety of techniques to sequence events so that they build on one another to create a coherent whole. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.3.D Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.3.E Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on what is experienced, observed, or resolved over the course of the narrative. LanguageUnlike the printed word, plays provide a spoken tone (and, possibly, a physical action) to a word that may further help a student understand new language. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grades 9-10 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.4.A Use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a sentence, paragraph, or text; a word’s position or function in a sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.4.B Identify and correctly use patterns of word changes that indicate different meanings or parts of speech (e.g., analyze, analysis, analytical; advocate, advocacy). CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.4.C Consult general and specialized reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation of a word or to determine or clarify its precise meaning, its part of speech, or its etymology. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.4.D Verify the preliminary determination of the meaning of a word or phrase (e.g., by checking the inferred meaning in context or in a dictionary). CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.5 Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.5.A Interpret figures of speech (e.g., euphemism, oxymoron) in context and analyze their role in the text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.5.B Analyze nuances in the meaning of words with similar denotations.

Episode 79: Playwright Jeffrey Harr Jeffrey Harr is a English Teacher with a sparse theatre background. He was handed the student one act play festival with no guide or instruction. How did he turn the festival into a mostly student-written venture? We also talk about the universal and relevant high school themes explored in his play Stereotype High.

Our website lists all of our plays with social issue themes but it struck me that they’re only lumped as “issue plays” without a good guide to sorting out which title addresses which issue. So I’ve categorized them for you to hopefully give you a helping hand in your quest to find the perfect script for your school. Check them out. As usual, all of the titles have extensive free sample pages for you to read. I think you’ll find the writing honest, fresh, and believable – three qualities sadly lacking from a lot of “teen-issue” plays out there in the world. Alienation / Feeling Alone in the World• Anonymous by Allison Green • The Art of Rejection: Two One Act Plays by Christian Kiley • A Box of Puppies by Billy Houck • Constantly, Incessantly, All The Time by Billy Houck • Huge Hands by Billy Houck Body Image• Body Body by Lindsay Price • The Four Hags of the Apocalypse Eat Salad at their General Meeting by Lindsay Price • The Battle of Image vs. Girl by Johanna Skoreyko • Hoodie by Lindsay Price • Breathless by Wendy-Marie Martin Censorship• Censorbleep by Lindsay Price Human Rights• Look Me in the Eye by Lindsay Price • Sweep Under Rug by Lindsay Price Racism• Flaky Lips by Lindsay Price • With Liberty and Justice For All by Jeyna Lynn Gonzales • Not Going Anywhere by Emma Fonseca Halverson • The Burgundy Letter by Kirk Shimano • Let Me In by Sholeh Wolpe *** Rumours and Lies• Have You Heard? by Krista Boehnert • The Redemption of Gertie Greene by Taryn Temple Individuality• Hoodie by Lindsay Price • Virtual Family by Christian Kiley • The Happiness Shop by Lindsay Price • A Deep, Poetic Journey Into Something by Forrest Musselman • Carrying the Calf by Shirley Barrie • Monster Problems by Lindsay Price • Stereotype High by Jeffrey Harr • Sixteen in 10 Minutes or Less by Bradley Hayward • Nice Girl by Amanda Murray Cutalo • Pressure by Lindsay Price • They Eat Sunshine, Not Zebras by Dara Murphy • The Super Non-Heroes by Taryn Temple • Smarty Pants by Bradley Hayward Identity• Box by Lindsay Price • Labeled by Lindsay Price • We Are Masks by Lindsay Price • Stressed by Alan Haehnel • Anonymous by Allison Green • Constantly, Incessantly, All The Time by Billy Houck • The Super Non-Heroes by Taryn Temple School Violence• Huge Hands by Billy Houck • Power Play by Lindsay Price • Clowns with Guns (A Vaudeville) by Christopher Evans • The Butterfly Queen by Christian Kiley • Life and Death in an Empty Hallway by Christopher Evans • Water. Gun. Argument. by Alan Haehnel Sexual Abuse• The Waking Moment by Bradley Hayward • Breathless by Wendy-Marie Martin Substance (alcohol & drug) Abuse• Bottle Baby by Lindsay Price • Floating on a Don’t Care Cloud by Lindsay Price • One Beer Too Many by Billy Houck Suicide• The Bright Blue Mailbox Suicide Note by Lindsay Price • Chicken. Road. by Lindsay Price • The Butterfly Queen by Christian Kiley Teen Pregnancy• The Pregnancy Project by Lindsay Price • Among Friends and Clutter (one scene) by Lindsay Price Illness/Health• Chemo Girl by Christian Kiley • The Other Room by Christian Kiley • Red Rover by Christian Kiley • Waiting Room by Christian Kiley • Breathless by Wendy-Marie Martin • Shreds and Patches by Robert Wing • Inanimate by Christian Kiley • Constantly, Incessantly, All The Time by Billy Houck Depression/Anxiety• darklight by Lindsay Price • Fidget by Bradley Hayward • Among Friends and Clutter (one scene) by Lindsay Price • Constantly, Incessantly, All The Time by Billy Houck • who are we, who we are by Forrest Musselman Bullying• Finishing Sentences by Scott Giessler • Funhouse by Lindsay Price • Power Play by Lindsay Price • The Redemption of Gertie Greene by Taryn Temple • Sixteen in 10 Minutes or Less by Bradley Hayward • Carrying the Calf by Shirley Barrie Divorce• Split by Bradley Hayward Gender• Life, Off Book by Scott Giessler • Anonymous by Allison Green • Baalzebub by Rachel Atkins (Baalzebub – One-Act Version here) • Completely, Absolutely Normal: Vignettes About LGBTQ+ Teens by Bradley Walton • Finding Jo March by Laramie Dean • Thought Traps by Lindsay Price Empathy• Discovering Rogue by Christian Kiley • Boat by Lindsay Price • We Are Masks by Lindsay Price • The Butterfly Queen by Christian Kiley Dependence on Technology• Virtual Family by Christian Kiley • Inanimate by Christian Kiley